Most college freshmen like close parental involvement, survey says

By Kathy Wyer

While college officials nationwide report that parents are heavily involved in the college experiences of their children, a strong majority of today's college freshmen don’t seem to mind. In fact, they believe their parents are involved the "right amount," according to UCLA's annual survey of the nation's entering undergraduates.

But when researchers looked at the responses of Latino students, a larger percentage of them, compared to white students, say their parents are involved “too little” in helping them choose college activities or select courses. The Freshman Survey is part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and is administered by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

The latest report suggests freshmen show a dependency on parents when making college-related decisions.

"When parents intervene in their children's college life and decision-making, students may not necessarily develop their own problem-solving skills, which may limit developmental gains in their learning experiences," said John H. Pryor, a co-author of the report and director of CIRP.

A majority of freshmen considered their parents' participation in their college careers to be the "right amount," with 84% reporting the "right amount" of parental involvement in their decision to go to college, 80.5% in their decision to attend the college at which they enrolled and 77.5% in dealing with college officials.

Conversely, nearly one in four freshmen (24%) report that their parents displayed "too little" involvement in helping them select college courses, and 22.5% say their parents were not involved enough in helping choose college activities.

Local reaction to the survey varied, with some UCLA freshmen clearly puzzled by the results.

“I'm surprised that freshmen, who generally want to be independent, are still thrilled that their parents are involved in what classes they are choosing,” said student Emefa Agbeh. “Usually, my parents have no involvement in what classes I register for. I let them know after I start the classes.” While Agbeh said he didn’t think greater parental involvement necessarily stifles their children’s development, “it just turns into a longer process for them to grow up.”

UCLA freshman Elaine Lee also said she was surprised by the survey results. “My parents aren't involved in helping me choose courses or activities, but they support me in whatever decisions I make,” Lee said. “I guess the involvement is ‘too little,’ but that's how it should be. We're in college, which is our transition to becoming adults. It's better to learn how to be independent now. My parents were always on my case in high school, and [now]I finally have the freedom to do what I want.”

The survey did show different viewpoints when the responses of students of different racial origins were compared. White students, for example, were far less likely than students of other races or ethnicities to indicate "too little" parental involvement in dealing with college officials: 12.1% of whites report "too little" involvement in this area, compared with 32.2% of Latinos. In selecting college courses; 43.5% of Latino students report "too little" involvement from parents, compared with 18.6% of white students, and 43.3% of Latinos report "too little" involvement in choosing college activities, compared with 16.1% of whites.

"This is a real concern, because Hispanics and Latinos historically have had the largest proportion of first-generation college students, and the process of applying to college is unfamiliar to these parents," said Sylvia Hurtado, a co-author of the report and director of the Higher Educational Research Institute. "It places the onus on students to apply for admissions and financial aid, and makes counselors or programs to advise students more essential for this population."

The survey offered other insights into the thinking of college freshmen:

Academic quality remained the top reason for choosing a college, cited by 63% of students —
a 5.6 percentage-point jump from 2006 and the highest this figure has been in 35 years. And college affordability is now more than ever a priority for students, with the importance of being awarded financial assistance increasing 5.1 percentage points from 2006 to 39.4% in 2007, also the highest this figure has been in 35 years.
While 75.9% of freshmen indicate that they used the Internet frequently for research or homework, 44% report that they frequently read news sites and 34.2% said they frequently read blogs, only 35% — or slightly more than a third — report frequently evaluating the quality or reliability of information they receive. And just 29% report frequently exploring topics on their own, even when it was not required for class. A slim 21.2% indicate that they frequently look up scientific research articles and resources.
While the popularity of social networking Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace runs high — 86.3% of incoming freshmen report that during the last year of high school they spent at least some time on such sites each week — students still spend relatively more time in an average week studying, working and "live" socializing. About half (49.3%) report typically spending one to five hours per week on such sites. Only 18.9% indicate that they spent six or more hours a week on these sites as high school seniors.

The CIRP Freshmen Survey report was recently released at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Since 1966, the first year the survey was conducted, more than 13.4 million incoming first-year students at 1,708 colleges and universities nationwide have participated. The CIRP Freshmen Survey is the largest and longest-running survey of American college students.

To view a summary or order a copy of the survey, "The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2007" (J.H. Pryor, S. Hurtado, W.S. Korn and J. Sharkness), visit http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri.